Vintage N.J. photos of supermarkets

I suppose I could write about the history of The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., Acme (pronounced Ack-a-Mee for many of us) or smaller supermarket chains such as United Service Grocers or National Self-Service Stores.

But I'd rather write about the sensory experience of going to the supermarket as a child.

If your mother brought you along for the trip to the supermarket as a child, you might remember the multitude of aromas in the store; the sounds of the mechanical cash register and the squeaky cart with the bad wheel mom always managed to choose. The sight of aisle after aisle of things you'd give anything for her to put in the cart ... and the things you tried to toss out of the cart when she wasn't looking.

He spent the next three years in his room.

If you were fortunate, you made it through childhood without causing a dreaded call for a "cleanup in aisle four."

Maybe I'm over-embellishing, but I propose that riding in the folding seat of the shopping cart at the supermarket was as good as any amusement park ride.

Is it the same today? I can't say for sure, but those people I know with young children don't make a weekly trip to the supermarket; they make multiple stops and pick up a few things each time. It isn't the same weekly pilgrimage.

Here's a gallery of supermarkets from back in the day around New Jersey. And if the store you remember isn't in this gallery, there's a very good chance it's in one of the previous galleries linked to below.